Servicios Correccionales De Puerto Rico, 452 (2002)

Corrections Corporation of America d/b/a Servicios Correccionales De Puerto Rico and Asociacion de Miembros de la Policia De Puerto Rico, Petitioner. Case 24-RC-8187

October 28, 2002

NOTICE TO SHOW CAUSE

BY MEMBERS LIEBMAN, COWEN, AND BARTLETT

On June 24, 2002, the Employer filed an Informative Motion and Motion Requesting Dismissal of Petition asserting that the Corrections Administration for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico had announced that, effective August 6, 2002, it was cancelling the management services agreement with the Employer covering the Guayama, Puerto Rico prison facility where the unit employees performed guard services. The Petitioner, in response, filed a Motion Opposing Dismissal of Petition.

On August 16, 2002, the vice administrator of the Corrections Administration of Puerto Rico, Ileana Mattei Latimer, sent a letter to the Board's Regional Office stating in pertinent part:

I am confirming that the contract between the Public Building Authority (PBA), Corrections Administration (CA) and the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) to administer a correctional institution in Guayama, on behalf of the CAA, was cancelled due to budgetary constraints, effective August 5, 2002.

Since the 6th of August, the CA administers said institution.

Accordingly, notice is hereby given to all parties to show cause, in writing, filed with the Board in Washington, D.C. on or before November 12, 2002 (with affidavit of service on the parties to this proceeding), why the Employer's motion to dismiss the petition should not be granted on the ground that the Employer no longer employs the employees at issue.1

1 Contrary to the dissent, we conclude that it would be unnecessarily wasteful of the Board's resources to determine the merits of the Employer's election objections at this time. The Employer has averred that the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has cancelled its contract covering the unit employees and that, therefore, it no longer employs them. The issuance of this Notice to Show Cause gives the Petitioner the opportunity to refute the Employer's assertion regarding the status of the unit employees. Our colleague's reliance on the unit employees' potential right to effects bargaining over their terminations is misplaced in this context where that right would exist only in the event that the Board considers and ultimately overrules the Employer's objections. Given that the Employer has allegedly ceased the relevant operations, that...